mccain, he will be very eloquent. >> reporter: and others are playing that game. >> what history tells us, that challengers normally win the first debate just by the fact that they're standing on the stage with the president. that elevates them. and they normally come into these things as the underdog, so we're coming into this thing very realistic that mitt romney will win if he plays the cards right. >> reporter: stephanie cutter making those comments on piers morgan, if your candidate does better, it is considered a big victory. how much are people paying attention to it? what they really want to do is hear what they will do to make the country better. >>> all right, thank you so much. >>> president obama and mitt romney coming face-to-face as american voters weigh in, picking their first choice on the presidential debate, october 3rd, live on cnn.com. >>> and 38 days from the presidential election, but already millions of americans have had their say. in fact, nearly half of all voters are expected to take advantage of early voting laws, as john king reports in the battleground sta